One country, two nations

Image courtesy: The Economist

Banyan | The Economist
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They look more like desperate refugees than the pampered vanguard of an organised mass colonisation. But that is how most local Tamils view the 600-odd ethnic Sinhalese who pitched up at the derelict railway station in the northern Sri Lankan town of Jaffna last month. As the new arrivals saw it, they were moving back home after a stay in the south. Now resettled in the crudest of tarpaulin shelters at Navatkuli, just outside town, crowded onto scrubby land shaded by a few coconut palms, they complain of joblessness and worry about the approaching rainy season. But they insist they are here to stay.

The locals’ suspicions suggest the government’s triumph last year over Velupillai Prabhakaran and his Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, ending their 26-year fight for a Tamil “homeland”, is in one sense incomplete. Most Tamils, many of whom loathed and feared the brutal Tigers, feel it as a defeat. National reconciliation still seems more a rhetorical ideal than a government policy.

In the south, among the largely Buddhist Sinhalese majority, Mahinda Rajapaksa, inaugurated for his second presidential term on November 19th, is monarch of all he surveys (and he does little to discourage intimations of royalty). Wildly popular for ending the war, he has sanctioned an epic personality cult. With three brothers, a son and a nephew in leading political roles, his family controls almost all levers of power. His only rival in popular esteem—Sarath Fonseka, his former army chief and then a challenger for the presidency in January—is in jail. Journalists admit to censoring themselves out of fear. A state of emergency is still in force, though Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the brother who runs the defence ministry, says it will be lifted in two or three months. The government has amended the constitution to get rid of term-limits and other tiresome checks on presidential power.

In Tamil-dominated Jaffna, however, presidential portraits, plastered all over the south for the inauguration, are scarce. Local politicians see their people as marginalised. They discount the president’s vague promises of a serious devolution of power. They note how he qualified that pledge in a recent interview: the Tamil parties must “realise that what we refused to give Prabhakaran, we won’t give to others.”

Tamil politicians believe the government intends to curb Tamil nationalism through intense security and population transfer. Hence their reaction to the arrival of 183 families from the south. These Sinhalese say they fled ethnic violence in Jaffna at the start of the war in 1983, and were dispersed in various southern districts. They were never fully accepted there, they say, being seen as quasi-Tamils. But they kept in touch with each other all these years. At least half had been born since 1983, and had never set foot in the north. But when they heard that Jaffna was now peaceful, they arranged a fleet of buses and came back together.

It is hard to believe that they did so entirely spontaneously. But to extrapolate from there to a full-scale colonisation plan, as so many Tamils do, reveals an enormous distrust of the government. So does speculation that the army intends to establish permanent cantonments throughout the north, moving military families to the area to join the soldiers. Despite the outbreak of peace, this week’s government budget awarded the biggest outlay to defence. Gotabaya Rajapaksa argues that, having tripled the size of the armed forces to win the war, he cannot “send those people home”, where they would have nothing to do.

The mutual distrust is an inevitable legacy of the civil war and the slaughter in which it ended last year. It is made worse by official secrecy. The government rejected an international inquiry into alleged war crimes by both sides. The “Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission” it appointed instead has heard some valuable testimony. But, boycotted by leading international and domestic NGOs, it lacks credibility. The camps where 330,000 displaced people were interned after the war were closed to most outside scrutiny. This week the International Committee of the Red Cross announced that it had been told to close its offices in Jaffna and Vavuniya, near the biggest camps. It is still rare for foreign journalists to be allowed to visit the north.

Even government critics, however, concede that peace is better than war. And some of the worst of the scare stories about the government’s intentions have proved unfounded. It was accused of planning to intern Tamils in the camps indefinitely. But over 300,000 have already left. Many have yet to rebuild their lives. Ashok, a 38-year-old Hindu priest (most Tamils are Hindus and resent the Buddhist pagodas sprouting in the north for the army’s use), is used to being shunted around. He was first displaced in 1990, from Palali, near Jaffna, one of the much-resented “high-security zones”, from which civilians were evacuated.

After such knowledge, what forgiveness?

Ashok then lived in Tiger-controlled Jaffna until 1995, when he retreated with them to a stronghold elsewhere in the north. In 2009 he had to abandon another home in the flight to the Tigers’ final redoubt. He was one of the tens of thousands to escape from there in the war’s last days, and then spent seven months in a camp. Being a priest spared him from suspicions of being a full-fledged Tiger. Back in Jaffna, he hopes to go back to Palali one day.

Such life stories help explain why reconciliation is difficult. The failure even to attempt it, however, is “inviting another terrorist movement”, in the words of a politician representing Sri Lanka’s Muslims, another aggrieved minority. So thorough was the army’s victory that the risks of that seem tiny for now. And both India, in Kashmir, and China, in Tibet, have shown in their different ways that it is possible to keep a resentful local population in check for decades. But Sri Lanka’s optimists hoped the end of the war might herald a future so much brighter than that.

© The Economist

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Sri Lanka: ‘Cormorant Strike’ in full swing

By Dharma Sri Abeyratne | Daily News
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A joint Army, Navy and Air Force exercise code-named ‘Cormorant Strike’ is being carried out in Silawatura, Mannar at present. Around 2,500 Security Forces personnel are taking part in the exercise.

In addition 40 naval and aircraft including the Shakthi naval vessel, Kfir aircraft, MI 24 helicopters, Y12 and MI 17 participated in the Cormorant Strike. Security forces personnel from the commando regiment and Special Forces directly are involved in ground battle. They were brought to the land from the Shakthi ship by Navy vessels. This amphibious landing was jointly coordinated by senior security officials in the Tri-Forces. Besides commando troops landed with the support of helicopters. “This exercise commenced a few days ago. During that period troops have already been deployed for the preliminary operations and main operation. These troops will gain all the territories that have been designed as an enemy area,” Military spokesman Major General Ubaya Medawala said. Through this exercise different levels of command will be exercised in command ability, decision making ability, and how they evolve different plans to match the concept already evaluated and need to put into practice.

Through this exercise the gained pluses as well as shortcomings will be taken into consideration, he added.

This is the first time in the history of Sri Lankan Security Forces that such a joint exercise is held. Military exercises are to be conducted regularly to gauge and assess military effectiveness of any army or armed forces, Major General Ubaya Medawala said.

The Military Spokesman said so addressing media yesterday in Silawatura, Mannar.

© Daily News

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Sri Lanka Army holds leader of protestors under house arrest

Tamil Net
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More than ten Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers arriving Thursday around 11:00 a.m at the house of the President of Oottuppulam Rural Development Society (RDS), who led the protest demonstration Wednesday demanding the cancellation of the sudden transfer of Karaichchi Divisional Secretary on the instructions of SLA authorities, continue to hold him under house arrest surrounding his house, sources in Ki’linochchi said. The president who is held under house arrest was to lead a hunger strike in front of Ki’linochchi Government Agent’s office Thursday along with nine other RDS presidents and a large number of civilians until the transfer order issued to the Divisional Secretary was cancelled.

Meanwhile, SLA officials in Ira’naimadu base had summoned Thursday morning the Presidents of nine RDSs in Karaichchi Division who were to join in the hunger strike and threatened them not to participate in any kind of demonstration warning that the failure to comply would lead to drastic consequences to them, the sources said.

The RDS President held under house arrest by SLA is Cinnaiah, 68.

Two men suspected to be SLA soldiers forcibly entering Cinnaiah’s house Wednesday night had attacked the occupants, the sources further said.

Ms. Sivakumar had instructed SLA to vacate the lands of the local people which the SLA authorities had claimed as government property. The said lands had been issued to their owners by the government in 1994 and the owners have the documents to establish their ownership.

The SLA officials angered by the action of the Divisional Secretary had had her transferred out within two hours after she instructed the SLA to vacate the said lands.

Welfare associations and public organizations in Karaichchi in Ki’linochchi district had gathered in protest Wednesday morning in front of Ki’linochchi Government Agent’s office demanding immediate cancellation of the sudden transfer of Karaichchi Divisional Secretary, Ms. Sivakumar, issued on the instructions of local SLA officials.

© Tamil Net

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Sri Lanka court denies bail to student union leader

Colombo Page
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A Sri Lankan court today ordered to further remand a student union leader who was arrested by the police last month for forcibly entering the Higher Education Ministry premises and damaging government property.

The Colombo High Court Judge Deepali Wijesundara today ordered to remand the Convener of the Inter University Students Federation (IUSF) Udul Premaratne till December 10th when the bail application was heard.

Cinnamon Gardens Police has submitted a report to the Court saying that two more suspects over the incident are yet to be arrested and requested the Court to hold Premaratne in remand custody until those suspects are nabbed.

Premaratne was arrested last month for allegedly breaking into the Higher Education Ministry premises and causing damage to public property during a protest.

© Colombo Page

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Nepal refutes Sri Lankan president's mediator claims

Utpal Parashar | Hindustan Times
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Nepal has refuted claims made by a Sri Lankan minister that it had sought the island nation's help to diffuse the ongoing political crisis in the Himalyan nation. Sri Lankan external affairs minister GL Peiris had stated in parliament on Wednesday that Nepal President Ram Baran Yadav had sought his Sri Lankan counterpart Mahinda Rajapaksa's help.

He said that the request was made when both the presidents had met last month in China on sidelines of the Shanghai Expo.

"It is a baseless claim. No such request was made by the President during his meeting with the Sri Lankan President," Rajendra Dahal, press advisor to President Ram Baran Yadav told HT.

He added that the Nepali embassy in Sri Lanka has also issued a statement terming the claim as unsubstantiated.

The fresh development comes amid growing resentment in Nepal against India's alleged interference in the deadlocked prime ministerial poll.

Despite 16 rounds of voting since Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal's resignation in June, Nepal has failed to find a replacement.

Difference among parties over who should head the next government is the main reason for the impasse.

Maoist party chief Pushpa Kamal Dahal who withdrew from the contest after seven failed attempts has accused India of sabotaging his chances at regaining the post he quit in May last year.

The delay in electing a new prime minister has also affected the peace process and drafting of the country's new constitution.

Integration of former Maoist combatants into Nepal's army is another area of dispute that has brought the four year old peace process to a near halt.

In July this year Rajapaksa has visited Male to mediate in the crisis between the Maldives President and the opposition controlled parliament.

"President Rajapaksa is now being accepted not only as the leader of Sri Lanka but as a regional leader too," Peiris was quoted by Sri Lankan media.

The minister's statement was widely reported in the island's media as reflection of Rajapaksa’s growing stature both within Sri Lanka and outside.

© Hindustan Times

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Indian FM in Sri Lanka amid growing Chinese influence

Agence France Presse
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Indian Foreign Minister S.M. Krishna was due in Sri Lanka Thursday to shore up bilateral relations amid growing Chinese influence on the island.

Krishna is due to call on President Mahinda Rajapakse and also open two Indian consulates in the southern and northernmost parts of the island before leaving on Sunday, the Sri Lankan foreign ministry said.

The Indian minister will travel to the southern town of Hambantota on Friday to open an Indian Consulate General office, eight days after the government launched the first stage of a 1.5-billion-dollar Chinese-funded port there.

New Delhi is believed to be concerned that Hambantota is part of a Chinese policy to throw a "string of pearls" geographical circle of influence around India.

China is also developing port facilities in Bangladesh, Myanmar and Pakistan, and has plans for rail projects in Nepal and Sri Lanka.

A diplomatic source said India was keen to speed up some of its own port, power and railway projects in the island which is emerging after 37 years of ethnic conflict following the defeat of Tamil Tiger rebels in May last year.

Krishna is also expected to travel to the island's northern tip of Jaffna to open another consulate in an area where Tamil Tiger rebels once ran a de facto state between 1990 and 1995.

The minister will hold bilateral meetings with, among others, his counterpart G. L. Peiris as part of India-Sri Lanka Joint Commission, the Sri Lankan foreign ministry said in a statement.

"This will provide the two countries an opportunity to review the growing ties between Sri Lanka and India; monitor implementation of bilateral understandings and further enhance the bilateral relations," the ministry said.

It said the two sides will follow up on the understandings reached during Rajapakse's visit to New Delhi in June when Indian nudged the island to move towards national reconciliation after crushing Tamil rebels last year.

India, which has some 62 million Tamils in its southern Tamil Nadu state, wields considerable diplomatic influence over Colombo and has been urging the Sinhalese-majority government to share power with minority Tamils.

© AFP

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Sri Lankan police send 'mass grave' ashes for forensic testing

ANI | Sify News
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Sri Lankan police have reportedly sent 24 bags full of ashes for forensic testing from a suspected mass grave of government troops in the north-eastern parts bordering Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu districts.

The BBC quoted officials as saying that jailed Tamil Tiger rebels had admitted that the grave contained the remains of 26 troops, including eight soldiers and 18 navy personnel, they had captured and shot dead in January 2009.

According to police, a small amount of human bones had been found at the site.

Police spokesman Prishantha Jayakody said that in addition a "powdery substance," suspected to be human ashes, was also found and sent for forensic testing.

A team of legal and medical officers and a government analyst have been sent to the site, the report said.

Sri Lanka's long civil war ended in May 2009 with the defeat of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Both the government troops and the LTTE were accused of violating human rights during the final days and international human rights groups claim that over 30,000 civilians were killed during the final battles last year, it added.

Human rights groups have also accused the two sides of violating human rights, especially in the final months of the war.

© Sify.com

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Sri Lankan priest urges justice for war crimes

By ucanews.com reporter - Colombo | UCA News
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A Sinhalese Catholic priest is calling for justice for nine Tamil priests who were killed or have disappeared during the civil war which ended last year.

“Catholics and the priests’ relatives have the right to know the priests’ whereabouts or their final resting grounds…If they are dead, please do issue death certificates, if it is not done yet,” said Father Reid Shelton Fernando, coordinator of the Young Christian Workers movement in Colombo.

Father Fernando, a rights activist, submitted a list of the disappeared priests’ names when he appeared before the Commission for Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation on Nov. 19. “So far there are no inquiries or acceptable explanations. Are they to be considered disappeared or killed?” he asked.

The priest added that the Tamils who survived the war have been affected mentally and physically. However, they are denied proper psychological treatment and counseling.

The post-war situation saw people urging the government to investigate all enforced disappearances and killings of thousands of people including Christian, Hindu, Muslim and Buddhist priests. All these crimes were witnessed or reported by numerous Sri Lankans.

State president Mahinda Rajapakse had appointed an eight-member Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission to report on the aftermath of the civil war that ended in May 2009.

Father Fernando argued that more Tamils would have come forth before the commission if there was a promise of witness protection.

According to International Red Cross reports in 2003, it had received 20,000 complaints of disappearances, 9,000 of which had been resolved and the remaining still under investigation.

The priests who have either been killed or have disappeared include:

• Father George M. Jeyarajasingham, a Methodist priest, killed with his Muslim driver in 1984.
• Father Mary Bastian, allegedly shot dead in 1985.
• Father Eugene John Herbert SJ, disappeared in 1990.
• Father S.Selvaraja, abducted and killed in 1997.
• Father Thiruchelvam Nihal Jimbrown, disappeared in 2006
• Father Pakiaranjith, killed by a claymore mine in 2007.
• Father Xavier Karunaratnam, killed in 2008.
• Father Francis Joseph, missing since 2009.

© UCA News

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"What we refused to give Prabakaran, we won’t give to others" says Sri Lanka's President

Interviewed by N. Ram | The Hindu
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During his first term, Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapaksa, underestimated by his political opponents and the outside world, achieved overwhelming political dominance after his politico-military strategy eliminated the LTTE as a military force and he went on to score two big electoral victories. As he embarks on a second presidential term, which began on November 19, he reflects on the tasks and challenges ahead in an interview given to N. Ram at Temple Trees in Colombo.

Mr. President, you made a huge score in the first innings. As you begin your second innings, there are heightened expectations from many constituencies within Sri Lanka and outside. How do you react to these?

As for what I achieved in the first term, I have brought peace to this country. Eliminated terrorism and brought peace. Now my aim is to develop the country. After that, the priorities are the people whom we have to win over – the hearts and minds of the people. Now Sri Lanka is one country; it’s not divided. So what we want is to see that the whole nation gets all the benefits, not only one area, not only one community. To develop the economy so that all the people benefit.

Earlier you spoke about the three Ds, Development, Democratisation, and Devolution. Has that changed?

No. Development is important. Without development and peace, we can’t have democracy. Democracy is very important because we are a democratic country. And then devolution: we have said we must know the minds of the people. Politicians have their own theories but people, the new generation, have different views. What we want is reconfirmation of what they want. Definitely we are going to have this. To have peace, we need all this.

How do you find the response of the people of Sri Lanka when you go to the rural areas? You won two big elections, the presidential election and the parliamentary elections.

When I go to villages and talk to the people, they are warm and friendly. I feel it.

You have no worthwhile opposition, politically speaking. Of course there are opposition forces. General [Sarath] Fonseka came into the picture and there are others. But after the elimination of the LTTE and after the electoral victories, I don’t see any leader in South Asia who is so well placed, so dominant politically as you are. How do you react to this? Do you sometimes feel complacent?

I must thank the people. In our democracy, people have trusted me to deliver. They know I have delivered peace to them. Now they need development and peace again. That is what the people expect from us. Now, with a two-thirds majority in Parliament, after a victory by 1.8 million – all this gives strength to me and to my party. What the people wish to have, we have to deliver.

On the Tamil question, the first challenge after the elimination of the LTTE was looking after 300,000 people who were in the camps. Now most of them have been sent back to their areas and I believe the number in the camps has come down to 18,000.

Of this 17,000 or 18,000, many of them are not in the camps; they go to the villages and come back. But at least 10,000 of them are from areas that have to be de-mined; we can’t send them there yet. But by December, we expect to send back everyone other than the people who wish to stay there [in the camps].

Are you satisfied with the resources that have come internally and externally to help this process?

I’m satisfied. Because all our friends helped us. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have been able to achieve this.

Now, there are heightened expectations about the political solution, the 13th Amendment-plus, that has been promised. The impression is that there is drift here.

As you would understand, we can discuss this only now – with all the political parties. After the elections, we have had discussions and they will continue. The solution that I have in mind might not be good enough for them; they might not accept it. Not only the political parties, the people must accept it. They want a new leadership to be built up. After we send them back to their villages, they have all these expectations and hopes. We must find out from them too. I have already had discussions with our political leaders who are in the government and who are in the opposition.

Do you have in mind a clear political solution, even if you have not revealed the specifics?

Yes, but I will first find out their views. We want to appoint a committee, from both sides and discuss all these.

Do you find the opposition reasonably cooperative, at least the main opposition, the UNP?

[Laughs]. The problem is they have to survive. The Opposition has lost all their slogans, now they have to find new slogans. It’s good in a way. But the Opposition must also remember this. They must oppose us within the country; it is their democratic duty. They must also realise that when we go out of the country, we all represent Sri Lanka. The fight is here, in Sri Lanka, but not when they go out. They must always respect the country.

This is a principle you have followed throughout in your political career, when you were in the Opposition also?

Yes. I never went and tried to stop any aid or any benefits that we got! We never went on to that. We said, ‘yes, there are human rights violations,’ because I was the one who first went to Geneva and gave evidence in the Human Rights Commission. But we never tried to pressurise the governments to withdraw aid and benefits to the people of Sri Lanka.

It is notable that the Tamil National Alliance, or the people who are now the TNA, have for the first time said they would accept a devolution package within the framework of a united Sri Lanka. How do you see that?

It is a good development. Because earlier they wanted a separate state. It’s a very good development. We can now start talking to them.

You expect a lot from them?

Not only from the TNA but from all the Tamil parties. We need their support and the [Tamil] people’s support. This is very important. They must realise that they can’t get what Prabakaran wanted – by using guns and all those weapons, by terrorism. They can’t terrorise the country that way. They must also realise that what we refused to give Prabakaran, we won’t give to others. So they must be realistic – and fair, in this process. They must know the feelings of the others too.

The question is also about the sequencing: before you come to this political agreement, the search for a political consensus on the devolution package, why not hold elections in the Northern Province? But even the TNA doesn’t seem to be in a great hurry.

Yes, because at this juncture we have to re-settle these people first. They must be given their basic needs and provide for their livelihoods.

But they voted in the presidential and parliamentary elections even though they were in the camps. Do you have to wait for them to be completely re-settled now?

There is also the need to register all of them [in the electoral register]. We can’t have elections now under the 1981 Census. You know, in the Eastern Province, we had elections as soon as we threw the LTTE out. But [in the North] I didn’t want to have elections when they were in camps, because the interpretation would have been different. Now I want to have elections as soon as possible to the Northern Provincial Council. We might be able to do that by next year. People who want to criticise us will always criticise us, for the low turnout and so on. But we can’t have elections under the 1981 Census!

Everybody speaks about the tremendous infrastructural development in Sri Lanka, every part of Sri Lanka except the areas where de-mining is yet to be completed. So you have a very good thing going. Can’t the political process be speeded up to keep pace with this rapid development?

Unfortunately, the stakeholders were not available, some of them. When we start that [political process], the Opposition must cooperate. Everybody must agree to the solution – this is not my personal solution! It must be a solution of the people, a solution from the grassroots level – not imported, not imposed by force – it must come from them. This is the solution we want. Now they all want to be one country, one nation. I have been to the North, our young MPs also have gone. We have spent billions of rupees there. What we have spent on the Eastern Province and on the North, we have not spent on the other Provinces. If you compare that, we have invested massively in the North and the East.

Because if the political agreement happens, there will be no issue. The Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission, the LLRC, was set up to probe events from 2002 to the end of the war and fix responsibility and make recommendations. We have the successful South African model [the Truth and Reconciliation Commission]. How do you assess the progress made in this?

I would say, very good. They have already given us an interim set of recommendations. I have given it to the officials to implement. A committee has been appointed. The commission is not meeting in Colombo only; they go to the North, they go to villages. They go and meet the people; they don’t wait till people come to them, they go to the masses. The difference is that. They have invited all international human rights groups to come and give evidence. They have sent invitations to the United Nations, so it can come and find out now. I think they are working very well, though some of the interested parties have their own views about the Commission.

You have the U.N. effort, the advisory panel that the Secretary General has set up despite opposition from the Sri Lankan government, and the demands of the NGOs for more investigations into alleged human rights violations. They don’t seem to have got anywhere.

I understand the plight of the NGOs. They have to say something. Whatever we do, finally we won’t be able to change their views – we might be able to change the views of a few of them but not all of them. They must realise that if you talk about other countries, conflicts are there, human rights issues are there. You can see the difference. For example, when all the 300,000 came this side and we started building some villages and kept them there, they said we were keeping them in ‘concentration camps’! You went there at that time, you could see for yourself whether they were concentration camps. When we re-settled them, they said ‘no permanent houses.’ Within six months, we have to build permanent houses. But without de-mining, how can we go and settle them? If we had settled them, they would have said we did this purposely to kill these people. We have seen some of these NGOs in Sri Lanka during election time. They went all out. One NGO, Transparency International, its local chapter, spent [SL Rs] 109 million in 2009, and within one month, the election month, January [2010], it spent [SL Rs] 69 million. A government department won’t be able to spend so much! This is what they did – got involved in local politics. They want to change governments, they want to change leaders. They don’t worry about the repercussions. Some of these NGOs are out; some of them are working.

‘Help us bring the communities together’

You have taken a special interest in language policy. You have announced a Ten Year Presidential Initiative for a Trilingual Sri Lanka and before that the initiative to promote English. This seems to have been thought out over the long term. How do you see this going?

Last year was the Year of English and Information Technology. With that the people started spoken English, they started learning English. So I thought the best thing was that all Sinhalese must learn Tamil now, the Tamils must learn Sinhala, and they must all learn English and acquire knowledge, international knowledge. We thought the best thing was to launch this three-language initiative. We have set the target of 2020 and I think we can achieve it. One issue is teachers; we have to train the teachers. But we have to meet that challenge.

The coordinator of this initiative, Sunimal Fernando, told me about the findings of a socio-linguistic survey in Sri Lanka; it showed a surprising amount of support, even enthusiasm, among both Sinhalese and Tamils for learning each other’s language. This must have come as a surprise even to you.

Yes but I have seen some of this. Government servants get from [SL Rs] 10,000 to [SL Rs] 25,000, depending on the level of competency, for learning a second language, Sinhalese learning Tamil or Tamils learning Sinhala. We pay them; I don’t think any other country pays government servants like this. We are serious about this.

In your address in 2009 during the launch of the Year of English and IT, you made an interesting statement. First about Sinhala and Tamil, not merely as tools of communication but as encapsulating values and worldviews. And English is to be delivered purely as a “life skill” for its “utility value,” as “a vital tool of communication with the outside world of knowledge” and as a skill that is required for employment. Then you go on to say something very interesting: “We will ensure that there will be a complete break with the past where in our country English was rolled out as a vehicle for creating disaffection towards our national cultures, national ethos and national identity.” So you make a qualitative distinction between learning Sinhala and Tamil by people belonging the other community and English as a life skill – but breaking with the past. So it was a real problem in Sri Lanka, the separation of the English-knowing elite and the people?

Yes. Because everybody thought that English was for the elite. And the elite used it as a sword – in Sinhala it is “kaduva.” The elite used knowledge of English as a kaduva to cut down the others from the villages. This was very prominent in high society, especially in Colombo; they thought the people who didn’t know English must be somebody to be looked down upon. Now it has changed and we want to change this attitude.

And if this Trilingual Initiative really takes off and achieves its target, it will really be a unique achievement. Very few countries would have done anything like this.

Yes.

Can you tell us about your thinking behind the removal, through a constitutional amendment, of the two-term bar on holding presidential office? There has been international comment on, and criticism of this change.

The thing is I have seen the second term of various leaders, not only in Sri Lanka but also in many other countries. Because in the first year [of the second term] you can work. Yes, you make promises, you can work in the first year. When it comes to the second year, from the beginning the party is fighting within to find the next leader. Government servants will be looking out to see who will be the next leader and they will not work. And the President would be a lame duck President from the second year [of the second term]. See what happened during the last term to [President] Chandrika [Kumaratunga], what happened to J.R. [Jayewardena], what happened to others. I’ve seen that, so I’m not going to walk into that trap! So I thought the best thing – whether you contest or not, that is a different thing – would be to be free from that [constraint]. Because during the second term of six years that the people have given me because I have achieved during the first term, I must have that freedom, without conspiracies, without pulling you down among your people, among the government servants especially.

The second term is very important. To achieve development for the people – that was the mandate they have given me. That’s why I did that. It doesn’t mean…whether I’m going to contest a third term or fourth term, it’s not like that. Generally, this [two-term limit] had made our leaders lame ducks during the second term.

You have told me on more than one occasion that one of the problems with the constitutional structure in Sri Lanka was that the President was away from Parliament, and that you had grown up in the parliamentary tradition and you wanted to overcome or narrow that gap. Have you been able to do that?

Yes. Now it’s compulsory, after the 18th Amendment, for the President to go to Parliament, at least once in three months.

This will solve that problem?

I think so. Because then when I have the right to go there, at least once in three months, I can use it at any time when I think it is necessary or useful. Even that they criticise, saying I am trying to control Parliament! I don’t want to do that; that’s why I said once in three months was enough. I don’t want to go and mess around with the parliamentary system. I want to be there to feel the pulse of the people, to hear the Opposition, to find out. I will give you an example. Recently, when Ranil Wickremasinghe, Leader of the Opposition, raised an issue on casinos, that somebody had started a casino on government land, I issued orders and found out it was a true story. I immediately called Ranil and thanked him for raising that. The Opposition’s duty is to show us these things and if I am there, in Parliament, I will be better informed about these things. Where something wrong has happened, we can always rectify it. It is very important that I should be very close to Parliament.

The other issue that is commented upon and criticised is the jailing and conviction of your former Army Commander, Sarath Fonseka. Neither he nor any member of his family has asked for a presidential pardon. Is it a political problem in Sri Lanka?

No, it’s not a political problem. The law is for all; everybody is equal before the law. Whatever wrong things they have done, they have to face it. People understand this. Some Opposition MPs, thinking they can use this as a platform to gain political advantage, are using his name. But I don’t think it’s a matter over which people are excited. They are not interested.

Neither the UNP nor even the JVP seems to have taken this up in a serious way.

No. When they want to say something or do something, they bring this up.

One is the rule of law and the President’s role. But there is also a personal side. He was your Army Commander, you knew him personally. How do these two sides interact?

Yes, it’s really difficult. But whether you are the Army Commander or not, if you do something wrong, you will have to face it. We never thought he was a man like that, we didn’t know. When he came forward as a candidate, somebody informed and said his son-in-law was an arms dealer. We never knew about this. He didn’t admit it either. He should have informed us. He sat as chairman of the tender board; no Army Commander had done that earlier. We made a man who was supposed to retire in a little while the Army Commander. If I had known that his son-in-law was an arms dealer, I would have warned him or tried to correct him.

There are, I’m told, about 11,000 self-confessed LTTE cadres or supporters in custody, hardcore elements and maybe some others. How do you resolve this issue?

Some of them have already been rehabilitated. Four thousand have already gone dome. We have released the children and the old people. Some of them don’t want to go; they are with us, for their own sake.

In your U.N. address, you extended an open invitation to all Tamil expatriate citizens of Sri Lanka who wished to come and join the development of the country. Has there been a good response to this?

Yes, there has been a lot of response, including from those expatriates who want dual citizenship. But there are also those who went away for other reasons, but showing the conflict as the reason. Many Sri Lankans have gone and settled down abroad and taken the citizenship of other countries.

You have been in close touch with Indian leaders. You have come to India; you were the chief guest at the closing ceremony of the Commonwealth Games; you have maintained continuous contact. Are you satisfied with the level and quality of India’s contribution to this process, after the war ended?

Yes. Yes. Relations have been excellent, after the war, and before the war ended. We have been in close touch, the leaders of the two countries.

For example, building 50,000 houses should take care of most of the housing needs of the displaced people in the mainland North. Then there is restoration of the collapsed railway network in the North. Palaly Airfield; KKS harbour; road development projects; a power project in Sampur in the East…

So all these projects have been given to India. But still some of the papers are making a big fuss over our projects and making comparisons with what we have given China.

Did the Indian government, political leaders or officials, express concern over this?

No, no. They are much more mature. Because everything had been offered to them first. The airport, the port, Hambanthotta harbour. Even Sampur was offered four years ago. We need development, rapid development. This will greatly help the people of the North, the Tamils. People who used to support the LTTE, those who made a big fuss over these projects, including Professor [M.S.] Swaminathan’s blueprint for the development of agriculture and fisheries in the North, should realise this.

As you embark on your second term, your new term, as President of Sri Lanka, what is your message to your people and to the international community? How should they respond to Sri Lanka’s new situation?

The message to my people is that I am concentrating on development work. I want to make Sri Lanka a hub for the development of knowledge, energy, commerce, naval transportation, and aviation. To achieve that, our people must stay together, rally round the government and achieve it – for the people. To the international community, my message is they must understand our position. We defeated terrorists, not freedom fighters. The whole world is facing this problem. So they must realise what we have achieved and help to develop the country, develop the North-East. They must help us not to widen the gap between the communities but to bring them closer. The past is past; you don’t dig into the wounds. We must think positively, not negatively.

© The Hindu

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China: Sri Lanka's top lender in 2010

Lanka Business Online
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China has become Sri Lanka's top bilateral lender up to September 2010, displacing Japan both in commitments and disbursements, with international capital markets dwarfing traditional lenders with a billion dollar bond a month later.

Sri Lanka has racked up 2,481 million US dollars in bi-lateral and multi-lateral financing up to September 2010, the highest ever volume of foreign financing commitments, with China leading the way with 668 million US dollars of export credits.

This year China had displaced Japan, the traditional top lender in both commitments and disbursements, up to September 2010, according to finance ministry data.

Dwarfed

But China's credits were dwarfed by international capital markets this year, with the government raising one billion dollars through a 10-year bond, largely for debt repayment in October.

Japan came in second with a commitment of 424.3 million US dollars including 27.7 million US dollars of grants, the Asian Development Bank came third with 369.7 million US dollars and Russia came in fourth place with a 300 million US dollar credit line.

World Bank had committed 217.8 million US dollars. Iran had committed 111.2 million US dollars in export credits and Australia 105.2 million US dollars.

The finance ministry said this year's financing commitment volume topped the previous high of 2,221.7 million US dollars reported in 2009.

The government was now sitting on an aid pipeline of 6,968 million US dollars which included 1,156.6 million dollars for power and energy and 1,701 million US dollars for roads and transport, 887.3 million US dollars for water supply and sanitation.

Disbursements

Up to end-September a total of 1,460.3 million US dollars of commitments were disbursed.

In actual disbursements also China led the tables with 643.7 million US dollars of which 545 million US dollars were export credits, according to finance ministry data.

The disbursements were swelled with a 445.5 million US dollar trance given to state-run Ceylon Electricity Board to build a second stage of a 900 Megawatt coal power complex. The power plant is a high return, long overdue project.

Japan disbursed 237.1 million US dollars.

The Asian Development Bank had disbursed 187.1 million US dollars including 17.2 million US dollars and the World Bank 120.5 million US dollars.

© LBO

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Sri Lanka: The moral police

By Indi Samarajiva | Sunday Leader Online
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In an old Italian movie, a girl has become pregnant. The young man doesn’t want to marry her, and he’s trying to tell his father why. “Answer me this,” Peppino said. “In all honesty, would you have married Mama if she’d done what Agnese did with me?” The mother is also seated around the dining table and she says, “You tried to get me to.” The father, chagrined, says “So? It’s a man’s right to ask and a woman’s duty to refuse.”

This double standard, nay, this injustice is behind the Sri Lankan Police’s recent persecution of young women. In the guise of fighting pornography, they have tried to order newspapers to publish the faces of young women. Almost none of these women are porn stars in the sense of posing naked for money. Almost all are regular girls who had nude pictures of themselves released through carelessness, by vindictive others, or by mistake.

As Malinda Seneviratne wrote in the Sri Lanka Guardian, “These girls have been raped by the authorities. If any of these girls find it impossible to live with the shame and does something unfortunate, the nutcase who came up with this ridiculous idea would have to answer.”

Indeed, Lakbima News has already reported that one victim in Nattandiya has had to flee her home, while the others live in fear. Note that the victims here are the girls themselves, and the offender is the police.

Pornography

Pornography is a dodgy business and something that the government has grounds to regulate. Most of the images they are investigating, however, are amateur, private images that have somehow become public. This is not pornography produced for the public, it’s just private images of naked people. Last I checked this was dumb, but not illegal.

The police response to these images is, however, both dumb and illegal. It is dumb in that — in an effort to stamp out pornography — they are asking newspapers to print what they call pornography. It is possibly illegal in that these women have a right to privacy, though that right is probably waved unless, as they say in China, ‘My father is Li Gan’ (meaning you’re connected to the ruling elite). The point is, however, in an effort to police morality, the police are behaving immorally.

Reverse Morality

In his recent book The Honour Code, Kwame Anthony Appiah discusses what he calls ‘wars against women’. He included the dialogue from the Italian movie above, a film called Sedotta e Abbandonata (1964). That satirical film described what was then an Italian legal practice whereby marriage would forgive prior crimes. Like rape. A man could rape a girl but escape conviction if he married her. Out of shame the parents would often encourage this outcome.

Another practice involved publicly kidnapping a girl to have a pretext for marriage. All this because private seduction could not be acknowledged. It sounds terribly silly to us now, but this is how Sri Lanka’s bumbling moral police must look to the outside world.

In an effort to fight pornography, they are trying to investigate any naked woman they find. Nevermind who distributed the photos, or the websites that circulate them, since the police actually seem to be on their side. Whether it’s a spurned boyfriend or the cops, all seem to be involved in hurting the girls, and putting all the shame on them.

Killing Honour

Sadly, this dishonorable pretence of honour is all too common on the subcontinent. Honour killings happen in India and Pakistan when girls are raped, or when they want a divorce, or when they try to marry someone their family doesn’t approve of. In one 2008 case Appiah cites, three women who wanted to marry freely were killed and a Pakistani Senator rose to defend “these centuries old traditions”.

Sri Lanka is by no means this bad, but we still have a rather dishonorable sense of honour. It is, for example, bad for a woman to wear shorts, but we tolerate men that expose themselves in public. It is bad for women to appear in nude photographs, but understandable that people will look at them.

Admittedly, the police are also censoring pornographic websites, but they make no similar attempt to shame the perpetrators.

Indeed, all the shame is on the women. In this way, however, the shame is on us.

Shaming

The key to changing this situation, however, is not rejecting honour out of hand. Instead, honour should be defined as what it really is — every person’s right to respect. The police are persecuting these girls because they don’t deem them worthy of respect. Any girl that’s seen naked or, worse, seen smiling naked is not worthy of respect. At some level, that perception may not change. But our perception of men can.

All too often, men are considered honour peers, part of an exclusive club. They deserve respect among themselves, but they don’t extend it to women. There is the exception, however, of chivalry. This word is not entirely native to Asia.

Many Arab countries seem to prefer to not see women at all, hiding them under a hijab. In India and Pakistan, any male contact outside of the family is often seen as dangerous.

In Sri Lanka, we have elements of these cultures but — like India — we have other moral guides. In Sri Lanka we know what an ideal wife and woman should be like, but we also have a concept of a decent man. A decent man wouldn’t drink to intoxication and violence, would try to practice Buddhist precepts (or whatever religion), and would generally be a compassionate human being.

These values are within all religions, but Sri Lanka also has deep Buddhist traditions to draw on when it comes to basic human behaviour. These values are not Puritanical, they’re practical. And they apply just as much to men as to women.

If we want decency on the Internet, we should start with the men that create this demand, that circulate these pictures. Before this, however, we should first make sure that women are respected on our streets, in our buses and in the home. The police should treat any woman trying to report spousal abuse or rape with respect and ensure that respect for women has the weight of authority behind it. Only then will Sri Lanka’s moral police deserve respect, instead of being a cause for international shame.

© The Sunday Leader Online

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Over 8000 disabled forces, police personnel sent on retirement

By Saman Indrajith | The Island
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Chief Government Whip, Water Supply and Drainage Minister, Dinesh Gunawardena on Tuesday told Parliament that 8,088 disabled security forces and police personnel had been sent on retirement.

Minister Gunawardena said that among the retired personnel were 7,337 Army, 450 Navy, 113 Air Force and 188 police personnel. All of them received monthly pensions, the MP said.

The Minister was responding to a query by UPFA MP Ruwan Ranatunga.

© The Island

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URGENT ALERT (UPDATE) : No confirmed information on arrested journalist

Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka
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A London based Tamil journalist who was arrested on Wednesday (17) at the Colombo Airport while he was on his way to visit his family, has now been reportedly seen at a government function in the Eastern Batticaloa district, a Tamil website reported.

However, neither his colleagues nor the concerned organisations have been able to establish contacts with Karthigesu Thirulogasundar (37) , since the day he was arrested at the Bandaranaike International Airport, Colombo.

A British passport holder, Thirulogasundar , was arrested by the officers attached to Sri Lankan state intelligence agency and was reportedly held in an undisclosed location.

Thirulogasundar was previously attached to London based popular TV channels Deepam TV and GTV. He is currently working as a full time journalist for London based radio station, IBC.

© JDS

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India wary of Chinese presence in Lanka

Deccan Herald
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External Affairs Minister S M Krishna will inaugurate Indian consulates in Sri Lankan port cities Jaffna and Hambantota during his visit to the island nation beginning next Thursday.

Though Krishna’s visit to Sri Lanka coincides with the birth-anniversary (November 26) of the slain Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) chief V Prabhakaran, New Delhi seems keen to take its ties with Colombo out of the shadow of the conflict that the tiny country on the Indian Ocean witnessed for over 25 years.

“Our defence and security dialogue with Sri Lanka, now that the conflict within the country is behind us, requires special focus,” said Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao. The new Indian Consulate in Jaffna is intended to strengthen the cultural links between the northern province of Sri Lanka and Tamil Nadu and is expected to make it easier for people in the peninsula to obtain visa to travel to India. Tamil-dominated Jaffna has once been a stronghold of the LTTE.

However, India’s new consulate in Hambantota in Sinhalese-dominated south not only indicates New Delhi’s desire to maintain the much-needed balance while boosting its ties with Colombo, but also signals that it has woken up to the growing Chinese presence in Sri Lanka. Hambantota, a town on the southeastern coast of Sri Lanka, has been turned into a major port, which President Mahinda Rajapaksa formally opened on his birthday last Thursday. Colombo had an agreement with Beijing for Chinese companies’ involvement in developing facilities in the port, which has now been named after Rajapaksa.

The Hambantota Port, like Gwadar in Pakistan and Sittwe in Myanmar, is perceived as a part of the “string of pearls” – the strategic assets that China had been developing in the Indian Ocean region. It has since long been a cause of serious concern for India. China’s aid to Sri Lanka since 2006 too crossed $ 3000 million, prompting India to announce a slew of sops for the island nation when Rajapaksa visited New Delhi last June.

The External Affairs Minister and his Sri Lankan counterpart G L Peiris will preside over the meeting of the Joint Commission in Colombo. Krishna will review the projects funded and carried out by India for rehabilitation of the Tamil civilians displaced by the Sri Lankan Army’s conflict with the LTTE. India has committed $ 1.5 billion for rehabilitation projects in Sri Lanka.

“The challenge is to convert the cessation of hostilities in Sri Lanka into a durable peace where there would be genuine reconciliation between all the communities in Sri Lanka inclusive of the Tamil-speaking minority,” said Rao, indicating that Krishna would once again ask the island nation to speed up the process of devolution of power in accordance with the 13th Amendment of the Sri Lankan Constitution.

© Deccan Herald

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Sri Lanka to run budget deficit of 6.8-pct of GDP in 2011

Lanka Business Online
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Sri Lanka is planning to run a budget deficit of 433.7 billion rupees or 6.8 percent of gross domestic product, down from a revised 446.7 billion rupees or 8.0 percent gap in 2010, a budget presented to parliament said.

In 2011 the government is planning to increase tax revenues by 151 billion rupees to 963.5 billion rupees from 828.2 billion rupees in 2010.

In 2010 the government extracted 128.7 billion more taxes from the people compared to 2009.

The government said it will raise state salaries by 5.0 percent and clear anomalies.

The estimated salary bill for 2011 will go up to 344 billion rupees from 295 billion rupees indicating that 49 billion rupees out of the extra 151 billion rupees in taxes collected from the people will go for state salaries.

The state will also recruit 10,000 graduates to an already bloated sector of 1.3 million people. But each year about 20,000 people retire.

Tax Changes

The government said it will raise taxes on raw material but cut duties on machinery and vehicles and cut taxes on the financial sector.

A debit tax charged on bank withdrawals has been removed, a financial VAT cut to 12 percent from 20 and corporate tax cut to 28 from 35 percent to allow banks to build up capital for higher lending.
The financial sector has been growing and profits have been rising. A levy on share trading has also been raised to 0.3 percent from the currency 0.2 percent.

Total current expenditure will go up to 1,017 billion rupees from 926.0 billion rupees, leaving a current account deficit of 53.4 billion rupees or 0.8 percent of GDP.

The deficit of 433.7 billion rupees (without grants) will be financed with 94.5 billion rupees in foreign financing (down from 205.5 billion in 2010).

Domestic Borrowings

Domestic borrowings will go up to 339.2 billion rupees from 241.2 billion rupees.

The government said a new pension fund will be set up cutting 2.0 percent from private sector wages and employees will have to contribute 2.0 percent, which will give more access for deficit financing.

Private sector workers forced savings scheme, the Employees Provident Fund (EPF), is the key source of financing of the deficit.

The interest bill for 2011 is estimated at 353 billion rupees, hardly changed from the 350.3 billion rupees a year earlier. Sri Lanka's interest rates fell after inflation fell with better monetary policy in 2009 and lower domestic borrowing in 2010.

© LBO

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90-member new Cabinet in Sri Lanka

By B. Muralidhar Reddy | The Hindu
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Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Monday unveiled a 90-member Cabinet. All Ministers, including Prime Minister D.M. Jayaratne, in the outgoing government have been retained and 18 new faces added.

Sri Lanka follows the system of Executive Presidency. Prime Minister and Ministers are nominated by the President.

The strength of the Cabinet is one of the highest and among the new faces are representatives of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) that recently extended support to the President.

Basil Rajapaksa, brother of Mr. Rajapaksa, who is considered the key political strategist of his administration, has been reappointed as a Minister for Economic Development.

Mr. Rajapaksa has kept the crucial portfolios of Defence and Finance. Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, another brother, continues to hold the position of Defence Secretary. Yet another brother, Chamal Rajapaksa, is the Speaker.

Hours after naming the government, the President presented the 2011 budget to Parliament. It aims at giving a boost to the economy in the post-conflict situation.

Mr. Rajapaksa proposed giving a major impetus to value addition of local industrial products, improving export earnings and also a wide range of concessions increasing outsourcing facilities for foreign business enterprises.

Appreciating the offer of India to build 50,000 houses for war displaced Tamil civilians in the North and East, Mr. Rajapaksa announced that his government would build 80,000 more houses for the nearly three lakh Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the next three years.

One million housing units will also be constructed within the next six years to meet the housing demand.

A statement by the government said the President in his budget unveiled plans for major investments in making Sri Lanka a trilingual country, increasing computer literacy by 75 per cent by 2016, improving educational research and educational facilities in universities, and expanding the tourism industry.

Felicitated

Separately, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh extended felicitations and good wishes to Mr. Rajapaksa on his assumption of office for a second term.

In a letter addressed to the President, the Prime Minister said he was confident that his second term in office would usher in a new era of peace, reconciliation and development for the people of Sri Lanka.

According to a statement by the Indian mission here, the Prime Minister also said he looked forward to working with Mr. Rajapaksa to further strengthen the multifaceted relations between the countries to the mutual good.

© The Hindu

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Gusi Peace Award 2010 conferred to Jaffna Security Forces Commander

The Jaffna Security Forces Commander Major General Mahinda Hathurusinghe has been nominated to receive the prestigious Gusi International Peace prize of Philippines on November 24, 2010. Gusi International Peace prize, which is awarded in memory of Captain Geminino Javier Gusi, a Philippino guerilla who resisted the Japanese invasion and later in his life campaigned for human rights as a politician.

Maj.General Hathurusinghe is the only serving military officer in South Asia to receive the Gusi Peace Prize, given to distinguished individuals or groups worldwide with exemplary contributions to Peace and Human Rights.

Hathurusinghe, received his basic military education from Officers’ Training Academy in India and Military Academy in Sri Lanka in 1980-1981. And, continued advanced military training in various countries in India, Pakistan, China and Philippines including courses on Advance Gunnery course, Young Officers’ Course, Long Officers’ Gunnery Staff Course, Senior Command course and Radar Training Course and attended National Defense College in the Philippines.

He received Post Graduate qualification -Master in National Security Administration (MNSA) from the National Defense College of the Philippines during 2008-2009. Major General Mahinda Hathurusinghe received the Gold Medal for the best dissertation in MNSA 44.

Sources: Sunday Observer | Civil-Military Coordination - Jaffna | Gusi Peace Prize International

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UN can't confirm will talk to "white flag" Silva, or report will be public

By Matthew Russell Lee | Inner City Press
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Will the Sri Lanka accountability panel of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon even ask to interview General Shavendra Silva, now posted in New York as the country's Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN?

Inner City Press put this question to Ban's acting Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq on November 22, the day after a widely circulated article “'War Criminal' Gets a UN Job.”

“The deputy permanent representative is an employee of the government of Sri Lanka, I would refer those questions to the government of Sri Lanka,” Haq replied. Video here, from Minute 46:08. The government of Sri Lanka, of course, has arrested and barred entry by journalists covering war crimes. Haq and the UN have referred those questions to UNESCO, which has of late said nothing.

Inner City Press asked, since Ban's panel chief Marzuki Darusman is this whole week in South Korea, how much time the panel members are putting into their review of Sri Lanka. Haq replied “they are putting in considerable time,” adding that “a secretariat putting together information.”

But will Ban's panel even ask to interview Shavendra Silva, who was in charge during the alleged murder of those exiting with white flags, a process in which Ban's chief of staff Vijay Nambiar was involved, having only even purported to explain his role once, to a media now barred by Sri Lanka?

“As you are well aware we have not been putting out a day by day summary of the people from whom the panel gets information,” Haq replied. He said the panel will submit a report to Ban, “then we'll have information.”

But will the report even be public?

Haq said that Ban Ki-moon will decide. So the UN cannot even say it will ask to interview Shavendra Silva, and will in all probability never even make clear if it asked to interview him. Some panel.

Footnote: that a sitting General like Silva would come in the Deputy and not Permanent Representative spot has been marveled at by other diplomats at the UN. Another DPR has even asked Silva about it.

Monday at the UN Security Council, Silva was not seen. Rather, Perm Rep Palitha Kohona handed Inner City Press his statement on "Protection of Civilians," saying "quote from it." Okay: "the Government policy of zero civilian casualties had a deep impact [on] the country's professional armed services." Just ask Shavendra Silva -- if you can.

© Inner City Press

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Sri Lanka orders Red Cross to quit former war zone

Agence France Presse
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Sri Lanka's government has ordered the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to close its offices in the island's former war zone, the Geneva-based humanitarian agency said Sunday.

The government told the ICRC to move out of two northern towns after the defeat of the Tamil Tiger rebels in May last year brought about the end of decades of civil war, spokeswomen Sarasi Wijeratne said.

"The government has asked the ICRC to close the Jaffna and Vavuniya offices and operate only from Colombo," she told AFP, adding that no reason had been given for the move.

Wijeratne said the Jaffna office provided artificial limbs to war victims while the office in Vavuniya helped families visiting detained relatives.

There was no immediate confirmation from the government, but Sri Lankan authorities earlier this month tightened control over local and international non-governmental organisations.

The government information department said there were 250 international and 1,000 domestic aid agencies working in Sri Lanka, which would now have to register with the defence ministry following a change in the law.

Sri Lankan authorities have long been suspicious of aid agencies, which were often seen as sympathising with the Tamil Tigers during the country's civil war.

The conflict ended when the rebels were wiped out in a military offensive that has since triggered allegations of war crimes.

© AFP

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Sri Lankan clothing exports withering down

Fibre2Fashion
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The Sri Lanka Garment Buying Officers Association (SLGBOA) recently revealed that, since the country lost its GSP plus concession facility earlier this year, a steady fall has been witnessed in its apparel shipments to the US and EU.

As stated by Hiran Bandaranaike, Secretary SLGBOA, initially though Sri Lanka enjoyed GSP plus concession from EU, but now loss of this concession has had a dribbling effect on its apparel exporters even to US, which is the second largest importer of Sri Lankan apparels.

The psychological effect that one market lays on other is also a reason for the underlying drop in demand in the US markets. Around 94.5 percent of the Sri Lanka’s overall apparel export is towards two importers, US and EU, Bandaranaike said.

Sri Lanka’s apparel shipments to US during January to August 2010 registered a fall of 4.6 percent and were recorded at US $833 million, as against US$873 million during corresponding period last year, he said. Though, Srilanka positioned itself as the eighth largest supplier of apparels to the 27 EU nations, but then it was certain to lose this position with withdrawal of the GSP plus concession on August 15, this year.

It is a well accepted fact that, loss of the GSP plus concession would have many adverse impacts on the Sri Lankan apparel sector. It is apprehended that, as more and more number of European buyers feel that the country’s apparels are not being able to retain their competitiveness, may thus, move to producers in other countries, he added.

Sri Lanka may continue losing a major chunk of its apparel exports to EU, which is also expected to claim thousands of jobs in the sector in the short term.

As per the estimates of the Joint Apparel Association Forum, apparels exports which constituted as the country’s main industrial export, may drop by some 10 to 15 percent, this year, Bandaranaike said and added that, the Sri Lankan government needs to carry out a dialogue with the EU and strike a mutually beneficial deal, while ensuring to regain the GSP plus facility as soon as possible.

© Fibre2Fashion.com

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